Founded in 1881, St.
John's Seminary provides evidence of the growing wealth and
influence of the Catholic Church in Brighton during the late
19th century. The great number of Catholic institutional
buildings in Allston-Brighton speaks eloquently to the
sacrifices and successful adaptation to life in a new
country on the part of Irish, Italian and Polish immigrants
despite prejudice born of fear and ignorance. As early as
the 1840s and 1850s, Irish immigrants escaping Ireland's
disastrous potato famine settled in Allston-Brighton. These
mostly, young, unmarried and unskilled Irish immigrants were
attracted to the town's convenience to Boston, by highway
and railroad, its cattle market, slaughterhouses, nurseries,
and many small-scale industries. Additionally, settlement of
large numbers of Italians in Allston-Brighton after 1910
added another key ethnic element to the community. A small
community of Polish Catholics settled in North Brighton,
near the Abattoir during the 1880s.

It was in south western
Brighton, however, that an unusually large number of these
Catholic institutions evolved, owing, in part, to the beauty
of the hilly, pond-dotted countryside. St. John's Seminary,
along with the Cenacle Convent, Cardinal's residence and the
campus at Boston College were all built on the grounds of
former farms and estates.

Behind the
Archbishop's Residence

St. John's Seminary
trace's its beginnings in Allston -Brighton to the purchase
of the 50-acre Stanwood estate by Father Patrick J. Rogers,
the first resident Pastor of St. Columbkille's Parish.
Father Roger's intended to use the former estate between
Foster and Lake Streets for a Catholic Cemetery. Evidently,
the nearby Evergreen Cemetery of 1850 was viewed as having
set a precedent for this type of land use. Archbishop John
Williams, however, viewed this tract as an ideal location
for a Boston seminary dedicated to the training of young men
for the priesthood. During the early 19th century, a farm
called the Hildreth estate was located atop the hill just to
the east of Lake Street. Jacob Stanwood, a wealthy Boston
merchant acquired the Hildreth estate in 1864.

Jacob Stanwood was a
wealthy Boston merchant, who was the brother-in-law of Maine
Governor and United States presidential candidate James G.
Blaine. The 1875 Brighton Atlas shows the estate of the
Jacob Stanwood heirs with a large main house and five
stables situated at the center of the tract bordered by
South, Lake, Glenmont and Foster Streets. The present St.
John's Seminary driveway on Lake Street, nearly opposite the
entrance to Lake Shore Drive, may follow the path of the of
the old Stanwood estate carriage way. The tract, next door,
to the south, containing the Chancellery, was owned by
William H. Plummer. In 1875, the Plummer estate encompassed
an L-shaped house near the northeast corner of Lake Street
and South Street. The main house and stable on the Plummer
property were set back from Lake Street.

During the late 1870s,
Stanwood's heirs discovered that he died in considerable
debt having sustained financial losses in the Panic of 1873.
The Stanwood heirs sold the 26-acre Brighton estate to
Archbishop Williams for $18,500. Before the commencement of
construction work on St. John's Seminary, Archbishop
Williams sought to secure a well-trained faculty for the
seminary. In the summer of 1880, he traveled to Paris where
he persuaded the teachers of his own youth, the Society of
St. Sulpice, to supply instructors for his new
seminary.

Construction work began
on Theology House at 127 Lake Street in April, 1881 and
continued for three years. Designed by in the Norman Chateau
style by South Boston architect John H. Besarick, it was
modeled on the Seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris. Constructed
of Brighton pudding-stone quarried on site, it was trimmed
with brick and sandstone. Initially, the plans called for a
large building in the form of a hollow quadrangle which was
projected to house 200 students and was expected to cost
$500,000. For the sake of economy, Archbishop Williams
scaled back the ambitious project, carrying out only about
half of this plan. What were actually finished were the
present towered L-shaped structure and a temporary chapel.
This smaller facility could accommodate 100 students and
cost around $150,000.

In the summer of 1884, a
group of Sulpicians arrived from Paris and from Maryland,
bringing with them a large stock of books for the seminary
library and various works of art. Particularly noteworthy is
the statue of the Virgin and Child that adorns the courtyard
of Theology House, a replica of a famous work by Pigalle in
the church off St. Sulpice in Paris. The first President of
the Seminary was the Abbe John Baptist Hogan, " an Irish
-born priest of wide scholarly attainments." On September
22, 1884, the new seminary opened its doors to thirty-two
aspirants to the priesthood. The number of students grew
from 70 in 1885-1886 to 132 in the years 1895-1899. In
1911-1912, the Sulpician faculty was replaced by eleven
priests of the Diocese, five of whom had been teaching there
under the previous regime. This turn of events occurred,
despite the Sulpician's excellent work, because Archbishop
O'Connell wished to have a faculty familiar with local
conditions rather than instructors dependent upon distant
superiors in France.

The jewel-like Chapel at
St. John's Seminary was designed by Maginnis, Walsh and
Sullivan in 1898-1899. Constructed of yellow and gray
Brighton pudding stone with limestone trimmings, the
Romanesque Revival chapel was reportedly in use as early as
August, 1899. The first solemn services were held at the
opening of the academic year of 1901-1902. The marble altars
of the sanctuary and the vestibule oratories were installed
in 1902. Most of the magnificent interior was executed
between 1908 and 1909 under the direction of Archbishop
William O'Connell who took office in 1907. During this
period, stained glass was installed and wall and ceiling
frescoes were executed by Gonippo Raggio. Interior
renovations in 1945 and possibly later included installation
of a new marble floor in the sanctuary and a "Linotile"
floor in the aisle, as well as construction of the present
five graduated rows of pews on either side of the aisles.

St. John's Seminary
Chapel is an early commission of Maginnis, Walsh &
Sullivan, as the firm was known from 1898 to 1907. The firm
designed numerous churches and Catholic institutions in the
Boston area. Among the firm's other buildings in Brighton
were Cenacle Convent and Chapel, Presentation Church
(1913-1921) and St. Gabriel's Monastery Chapel
(1929).

Gonippo Raggi was an
ecclesiastical artist and interior decorator based in Boston
from 1908 to c. 1916. By 1912 Raggi's commissions included
paintings in the Archbishop's House, St. Columbkille's
Church in Brighton, St. Joseph's Church and All Saints
Church in Roxbury, and St. Mary's Church in Newton. Perhaps
his most splendid design is the painting and stucco work on
the interior of Notre Dame Church in Stockbridge, Mass.,
beginning in 1912. Raggi returned to Rome during World War
I.

During the Spanish
Influenza Epidemic, St. John's Seminary was offered by
Cardinal O'Connell to the Massachusetts Emergency Public
Health Commission for hospital purposes. In early October,
1919, Boston had 150 to 200 deaths daily from this terrible
"flu". St. John's was turned into a temporary home for
convalescents, becoming St. John's Hospital, with a staff of
six doctors, nine registered nurses, and a total of
ninety-two patients. Twenty seminarians also served as
attendants upon the sick. The seminary's period as a
hospital lasted only a few weeks but proved to be of
tremendous service to the community.

The 1920s were
characterized by unprecedented construction on the seminary
grounds. The north wing of Theology House was substantially
enlarged around 1920. In 1925 a south wing was added.
Containing a dining hall, well equipped modern kitchen,
heating plant, and a convent for the Sisters who attended to
part of the work of the refectory, the new wing is a
dignified addition to the late 19th century seminary. With
walls decorated with Della Robbia rondels, the new dinning
room was "in the best tradition of monastic
refectories".

In 1927, the Archbishop's
House or Cardinal's Residence was constructed on the south
side of the campus, at 2101 Commonwealth Avenue. Designed by
the important ecclesiastical architects McGinnis and Walsh
in the "Roman" Renaissance Revival style, funding for the
mansion was provided by A. Paul Keith in memory of his
mother Mrs. Mary Catherine Keith. In 1918, his father,
Benjamin F. Keith bequeathed the Archdiocese more than two
million dollars. According to Brighton historian William
Marchione, " the Cardinal, who loved beautiful architecture,
used the money to create a "Little Rome" on the hills of
Brighton." Cardinal O'Connell reportedly "wished to leave to
his successors a residence worthy of the head of so great a
see.

Works by Maginnis and
Walsh for Boston area Catholic institutions include the
Boston College complex (1909), the Church of St. Catherine
of Genoa in Somerville (1909), Holy Cross College in
Worcester, the Jesuit Novitiate in Weston, St. John's Church
in North Cambridge and the Cenacle Convent in Brighton
(1922).

The Clergy
Personnel/Tribunal Building at 1 Lake Street was designed by
Desmond and Lord Architects, Boston. Constructed in
1928-1929 of yellow brick and limestone, it is designed in
the Italian Renaissance Revival style. The Chancery Office
was transferred to this building from Granby Street,
Brookline, early in 1929.

In 1928, Cardinal
O'Connell built the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception into
the hillside just to the south of the dining hall wing of
Theology House. As originally intended, this
limestone-constructed structure serves as the Cardinal's
Mausoleum.

A smaller building
campaign conducted on St. John's campus between 1935-1940
resulted in the addition of a rebuilt classroom building,
gymnasium and a preparatory seminary.

The Georgian Revival St
Williams Hall at 37 Lake Street occupies the site of an 1889
classroom building that was almost entirely rebuilt
following a devastating fire on April 8, 1936. Erected atop
a high elevation to the south west of Theology House, the
original building, "Philosophy House", was designed by
Maginnis and Walsh. It was built by contractor Charles Logue
to house classrooms and dormitory rooms. The east chapel is
all that survives from the original J. H. Besarick designed
building.

In 1937, the Georgian
Revival Keith Gymnasium was constructed on the east side of
the great lawn. Erected in memory of Mrs. Mary Catherine
Keith, this recreational facility was opened on March 21,
1938. Constructed by Thomas O'Connor, contractor, the
gymnasium was designed by Boston architect Maurice P.
Mead

St. Clement's Hall at 210
Foster Street was built in 1940 as a preparatory seminary,
in which youths aspiring to the priesthood might carry on
the studies of the first two years of college before
entering the Philosophy department of the Major
Seminary.

During the 1950s, the
modern, brick Peterson Hall classroom building was added to
the east wall of Theology Hall. The first floor is used for
administrative offices and the upper floors are lined with
dormitory rooms.

Also located on the
campus are three c. 1960s modern office / classroom
buildings as well as a library on the west side of the great
lawn at the center of the campus. The Chancery was built in
1962 by contractor E.H. Peabody. It was designed by Brockton
architect Arthur R. Murphy.

In 1960, at the height of
enrollment at St. John'ss, 47 men were ordained as priests.
Since the early 1960s the number of seminarians studying to
be a Catholic priest has dropped from about 7,000 down to
3,400 in 1995. And the number of major seminaries has
dropped from about 110 in the 1960s to 48 in 1995.

In June 2004, Boston
College agreed to purchase 43 acres and several of St John's
Seminary buildings from the Archdiocese of Boston. Boston
College will pay the Archdiocese $99.4 million for the
property, which in addition to the land includes the
three-story former residence of the Archbishop of Boston;
St. William's Hall, an administration building; St.
Clement's Hall, and several smaller structures. BC and the
Archdiocese also agreed on an additional proposal for the
University to buy the Archdiocesan Tribunal property on Lake
Street in two years.